Matthews will miss Tuesday's game with an upper-body injury due to something that has been lingering for a while.
Auston Matthews hasn’t appeared in all of his team’s regular-season games since his rookie season in 2016-17, and that streak will continue as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Arena.
The Leafs announced Tuesday morning that their star forward would miss the game due to an upper-body injury. Given Matthews’ history of wrist issues—including surgery before the 2021-22 season—the question naturally came up with Leafs head coach Craig Berube.
“No, nothing to do with that,” Berube confirmed.
Matthews has had a somewhat slow start to the season, tallying five goals and six assists in 13 games. It turns out he’s been dealing with an issue recently, though it’s unclear how long or what it is.
“He’s been fighting through it a little bit,” Berube admitted.
In 2022-23, Matthews’ production dipped, recording 40 goals and 45 assists in 74 games. Reports indicated he had a minor procedure on his wrist that previous summer, which might explain the decline.
Last season, he bounced back in a big way, scoring 69 goals and 38 assists across 81 games. Matthews was made available to the media following the Leafs' 2-1 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. He had been requested for comment after Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues but wasn’t made available.
With Matthews out of the lineup, Max Domi was elevated into the top-line role to skate with Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner.
Pontus Holmberg moved over to the center position on the third line to backfill for Domi, as Nick Robertson moves to the wing.